EXHIBIT 99.1

NATURAL RESOURCE PARTNERS L.P. ACQUIRES VIRGINIA COAL ASSETS FROM ALPHA
NATURAL RESOURCES, LLC

HOUSTON, April 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Natural Resource Partners L.P.
(NYSE: NRP) announced today the acquisition of more than 290,000 mineral acres
containing over 300 million tons of coal reserves from two subsidiaries of Alpha
Natural Resources, LLC for an aggregate purchase price of $53.625 million in
cash. NRP has, in turn, leased these reserves to the subsidiaries of Alpha
Natural Resources, which will mine the coal and pay royalties to NRP. The
acquisition, which is effective April 1, 2003, is expected to be accretive to
both cash flow and earnings and was funded through the partnership's recently
increased credit facility.

Corbin J. Robertson, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "With the
addition of this latest acquisition, NRP has now grown its coal reserves by more
than 30% since going public six months ago. NRP now owns more than 1.5 billion
tons of coal reserves in eight states."

"We see tremendous opportunities to consolidate assets within this industry and
will continue to pursue additional accretive acquisitions to further the growth
of the partnership to the benefit of our unitholders," said Nick Carter,
President and Chief Operating Officer.

For the remainder of 2003, NRP anticipates the properties will generate
approximately $6.5 to $6.8 million in coal royalty revenues based on production
of approximately 4 million to 4.5 million tons. A modest increase in general and
administrative expenses associated with managing the properties is expected.

These reserves, which are primarily underground, are associated with 18 mines,
11 leases, and 8 operators in Virginia. The properties are adjacent to NRP's
VICC property acquired from El Paso Corporation last December, which is operated
by another subsidiary of Alpha Natural Resources, LLC.

Natural Resource Partners L.P. is headquartered in Houston, TX, with its
operations headquarters in Huntington, WV. NRP is a master limited partnership
that is principally engaged in the business of owning and managing coal
properties in the three major coal producing regions of the United States:
Appalachia, the Illinois Basin and the Powder River Basin.

Alpha Natural Resources is controlled by First Reserve Corporation and American
Metals and Coal International. Based in Greenwich, Connecticut, First Reserve is
the leading private equity firm specializing in the energy industry with $2.6
billion under management. For additional information on First Reserve, please
visit http://www.firstreserve.com .

For additional information, please contact Kathy Hager at 713-751-7555 or
khager@nrplp.com . Further information about NRP is available on the
partnership's website at http://www.nrplp.com .

This press release may include "forward-looking statements" as defined by the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Such statements are those concerning the
increases in coal reserves, coal royalty revenue and, production related to the
acquisition. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included
in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the
partnership expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are
forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain assumptions
made by the partnership based on its experience and perception of historical
trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it
believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Such statements are subject to a
number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the
control of the partnership. These risks include, but are not limited to,
decreases in demand for coal; changes in operating conditions and costs;
production cuts by our lessees; commodity prices; unanticipated geologic
problems; changes in the legislative or regulatory environment and other factors
detailed in Natural Resource Partners' Securities and Exchange Commission
filings.



CONTACT: Kathy Hager of Natural Resource Partners L.P., +1-713-751-7555, or
khager@nrplp.com / /Web site: http://www.firstreserve.com http://www.nrplp.com/
(NRP)